Race ideas
= Rumored New Alliance Race = As of late-March 2006, Blizzard has yet to announce the new Alliance race that will come with the Burning Crusade expansion. As with most speculations on unannounced details, many rumors have swirled about what the new race might be. Below is a table of WoWWiki members' analysis of these rumors (or at least the ones we know). One of these races may be be selected for the Burning Crusade expansion pack, or possibly saved for future expansions. We won't know until Blizzard finally tells us, E3 is May 10th, it's possible they are saving the info until then. NOTE: Please try to link to the original rumor sources where available. Everything on it is a rumor. All rumors deserve a home here, regardless if you like them or not. Everybody feels very differently. Since we don't know what the race will be, this is a place to put our ideas. Please respect everybody else's ideas so we can share them with each other. = Rumored Race Sanity Test = You think you got a race for this page? Take the test! = Official Blizzard Response = Eyonix says: :" Since our official announcement at BlizzCon concerning the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion pack, we've seen a great deal of speculation regarding what race players believe might be available to the Alliance faction. This topic has revealed itself to be both highly debatable and exciting, and we're definitely pleased to see so much interest surrounding this particular future addition to the game. :With that being said, we wanted to take this time to remind everyone that we have not provided any information or made any announcements concerning the new Alliance race to any Web sites, magazines, or other media sources. While we don’t want to discourage you from continuing your discussions on this matter, we ask that you keep that bit of information in mind. When we’re ready to announce the new race, we’ll eagerly share as much information as we can with everyone on our community site." Caydiem: :"If we even remotely hint that we might know what the new Alliance race will be, the badgering for information on that subject would increase tenfold. :P :That said, as someone who has participated in the detailed speculation that comes from an impending announcement such as this in the past, I am tickled by the elaborate explanations you folks come up with to support your claims. :)" Eyonix: :"We're going to announce the new Alliance race when it's in a state that will allow us to present it in all its glory, meaning we want to be able to show off the finished model, art, new zone and discuss in detail all its lore. Each of these items are already available for the Horde's new Blood Elf race and such was even playable at BlizzCon. We're really ecstatic about both new faction races, and feel strongly that both need to be given an opportunity to shine when unveiled. :I will however confirm that the new Alliance race is not the Kool-Aid man. As 'kool' as he is, we felt his existence in Azeroth would be a bit disturbing and thus I felt this as good a time as any to put an end to this specific rumor. ;)" Notes on Races The table below represents the best efforts of the WoWWiki community to list reasons why a race may or may not be the new Burning Crusade Alliance race, but also includes reasons why they may be in a future expansion. They have been placed in alphabetical order to reduce bias toward any particular race. NOTE: Rumors are unsubstantiated and commonly false. *'Rumored Races:' :None of these have been officially confirmed or denied directly from Blizzard by a blue post or a press release. *'Levels of likelihood (of being true):' ** Confirmed — The races marked as Confirmed were officially presented as THE new race for its appropriated expansion. ** Possible — No actual information about the requirements of this race, so any is possible (other expansions than Burning Crusade only). ** Unconfirmed — Plain speculations, with solid arguements or not. ** Debunked — Debunked as a possibility by supposed official sources (Blizzard employees). *Reasons: **'Bold-written reasons' — Relatively strong reasons/arguments. **''Italic-written reasons'' — Relatively weak reasons/arguments. Notice! If you think something is rated incorrectly, PLEASE click on the discussion tab before you change it yourself. Let people know you think it is incorrect, leave your ideas and sources for your information. Together, we'll agree on how feasable it is. + Strong Alliance connection. + Connection to the Emerald Dream (which may be in an expansion). '- 'Forest Spirits' rather than a true race: they have none of their own architecture, culture or even established society.' -''' No Obvious Relationship to Outland.' '- 4 Legs Technical Difficulty.' |----- valign="top" || Centaur ||BC: Unconfirmed Future: Possible||WC3|| '+ Maraudon quest lines indicate race may be poised to undergo a reformation.' ''+ Hatred for Taurens. '- They eat sentient races.' '- Xenophobic to Alliance.' '- 4 Legs Technical Difficulty.' '- No Obvious Relationship to Outland.' |----- valign="top" || Draenei ||BC: Unconfirmed Future: Possible||WC3: TFT|| right|thumb|Will the Alliance get an ugly race? + Lore-based hatred of Orcs. + Originally from Draenor/Outland, and would fit well in The Burning Crusade Expansion. Share a goal simillar to the Blood Elves to return which fits well with expansion. + Rumored to have unmutated version which hasn't been seen before. + Draenei Rumor + Connection to lost Alliance expedition on Draenor is a possibility. + Draenei buildings exist in the same parent directory as human and orc buildings (outland directory). However, one would assume Draenei buildings would be in Outland regardless. ? Febuary Computer Gaming says directly in print: 'Alliance players will enjoy playing Draenei'. However, this was declared merely speculation by the editor. ? No female Draenei have been previously seen but, prior to World of Warcraft, no female Dwarf, Troll, Gnome or Tauren had been seen either (whereas Sylvanas Windrunner, Jaina Proudmoore, Tyrande Whisperwind and Griselda Blackhand represent their race) ''- Stealth abilities too similar to Night Elves.'' '- Last known to be allied with Blood Elves, Naga, and Illidan.' |----- valign="top" || Furbolg ||BC: Unconfirmed Future: Possible||WC3|| + Night Elf connection. + Had their entire society shattered by the Burning Legion. This provides a strong reason for activity in Outland: revenge. + Connection to the Emerald Dream (which may be in expansion). + Have had many emotes added to them along with new animations. + Furbolg Rumor. ? Shamanistic culture. While not 'elementalist shamans' like the horde, their 'nature shaman' (Druidic?) are closer to the Night Elves. |----- valign="top" || Gnolls ||BC: Unconfirmed Future: Possible||WC3|| - Little evidence of civilization. - Certain tribes known to serve the Scourge, although it's not like they'll "ask" you to join them. ;) '- At war with Alliance.' '- No Obvious Relationship to Outland.' |----- valign="top" || Goblin ||BC: Unconfirmed Future: Possible||WC2|| + They could fit well into an ocean-related expansion and are a very popular race. + Greed-based culture could easily support the introduction of a new mercenary faction. + Character models already rigged for armor. + Recently given dance animation. - Neutral Race not likely to side with Horde or Alliance. - Goblins are indifferent toward the naga and blood elves, and do not wish to ever see an end to the Alliance - Horde conflict, as that would bring an end to their profitable war-time sales. For this reason, the goblins favor neither side and no race. They will do their best to make sure war continues for generations. '- How would Neutral cities remain neutral ?' '- No Obvious Relationship to Outland.' '- Would require lots of lore changes.' |----- valign="top" || High Elves ||BC: Unconfirmed Future: Possible||WC2|| + Close ties to the Alliance. ' + All remaining High Elves are utterly disgusted by the Blood Elves. They consider the lengths to which the Blood Elves have gone to be completely insane, and seek to distance themselves from Blood Elves as much as possible.' + May be seen as 'ugly' due to similarities with other elves. + Search for new homeland backstory for quests. + Not found in Outland which may not be accesible to all players + Majority in Kalimdor. Well established lore. Current equipment and classes are applicable. ? W3: Frozen Throne Night Elf Story line suggests good relationship between High Elves and Night Elves *Note Maiev & Tyrande's conversation with Kael. ? Past High elf heroes visited Outland. - Same race as Blood Elves, merely a different faction. '- No Obvious Relationship to Outland.' '- Extremely doubtful that a second 'elf' model would be selected, with a model nearly identical (beyond clothing and coloration) to Blood Elves and Night Elves.' '- Traditional capital of Silvermoon in hands of the Blood Elves.' '- High elf population far too low to support player population.' Caydiem, a Blizzard Moderator on the Official forums, stated that there are far more Blood Elves than High Elves, and that the Gnomes far outnumber High Elves. This is because Gnomes evacuated half their race from Gnomeregan, while the High Elves of Quel'Thalas were completely slaughtered. She was "reciting this from memory". She also replied that, as she understands it, the Warcraft RPG game has not yet been updated to properly reflect current numbers as they stand in World of Warcraft. Arthas's undead army decimated nearly ninety percent of the high elven population, all but a few made the switch to Blood Elves. |----- valign="top" || Mountain Giant ||BC: Unconfirmed Future: Possible||WC3:TFT|| + Lore connections to Alliance. ''- Possible balance issues.'' ''- Too big.'' '- No Obvious Relationship to Outland.' '- Not seen wearing clothes.' '- Unknown intelligence, culture, or civilization.' |----- valign="top" || Murloc ||BC: Unconfirmed Future: Possible||WC3|| + They could fit will in an ocean-related expansion pack + Rumors of Verging on Sentience. (Illidan Rocks says: "The bonus orc campaign in The Frozen Throne provides precedent for murlocs being sentient; those who worshipped the Sea Witch were clearly intelligent and even had dialogue.") '' + Gaming Steve Murloc Rumor.'' ' - Currently at war with Alliance'. '- No Obvious Relationship to Outland.' |----- valign="top" || Naga ||BC: Unconfirmed Future: Possible||WC3|| + Relationship to Outland via Illidan + They could fit well into an ocean-related expansion and are a very popular race. '- No Legs Technical Difficulty.' '- No lore connections to Alliance.' '- Unlikely to ally with Alliance against their Blood Elf allies.' |----- valign="top" || Nerubian ||BC: Unconfirmed Future: Possible||WC3: TFT|| + They could fit well into an Northrend expansion and are a very popular race. + Fanatic hatred of the Undead, Scourge or otherwise. ''- Biologically connected to the Silithid, which are hostile to all races''. '- No lore connections to Alliance.' '- Unlikely to appear without Northrend.' '- No Obvious Relationship to Outland'. '- Six legs, technical difficulty.' |----- valign="top" || Ogre ||BC: Unconfirmed Future: Possible||WC1|| + Originally from Draenor/Outland. + Ogres were touched up a bit with a few of their animations. ? No female Ogres have been previously seen, see Draenei - Traditionally a Horde race. - Revealed Outlands Ogre model http://www.goblinworkshop.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=11&pos=18 casts some doubt to some on whether Ogres are indeed the Alliance race. Though this model is obviously a 'creature' Ogre, another question can still be posed. Why take a large amount of time to create a new Ogre model when a simple reskin of the 'player' Ogre would probably suffice? '- "This is not Everquest, this is World of Warcraft. Ogres are not a playable race so they have no need of fitting through doorways."' --Drokthul, Blizzard (Dec 2005) |----- valign="top" || Pandaren ||BC: Unconfirmed Future: Possible||WC3: TFT|| + Blizzard has stated that no magazines or web publications know the Alliance race. '' This sort of undoes http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/world-of-warcraft-expansion/662576p2.html Gamespy debunk of Pandarens for this expansion pack, as Blizzard has not provided any information or made any announcements concerning the new Alliance race to anybody.'' + Settlement in Stonetalon Mountains, and there is a zone-sized unused area on the map at the west end of the Stonetalon range. Pandaria said to be located on island in same area. (WoW RPG) + Katricia: "Pandarens will not be a playable characters .. at this time. Will they make cameo appearances in the game as NPCs? Some things are best left unanswered I think :)" + Katricia: "Do Pandarens exist in World of Warcraft? Maybe they will be found in the beta or retail version of the game and maybe they will be granted a special place in an expansion." ? Pandarens are mentioned by a child npc in the city of Stormwind. So they exist in WoW to some extent. ? It's probably worth mentioning in passing that other journalists that when mentioning the ex-April-Fools-joke Pandaren Empire to Blizzard staff got a surprisingly cagey response... Eurogamer.net. - Said to be Shamanistic, although that could be said about many races on this list. - No Obvious Relationship to Outland, unless their hatred for the Blood Elves abuse of magic counts. They might fit better in an expansion beyond The Burning Crusade. - It is unlikely that the pandaren will ever choose to involve themselves in the conflict on more than an individual scale. Pandaren who befriend either Horde or Alliance races will defend their companions against whatever threat, even members of the opposing side, but as a society they are totally neutral. Pandaren encountered outside the Barrens are wanderers and travelers, belonging to no affiliation. Their outlook meshes well with the Alliance, and most pandaren in Kalimdor are found in the company of Alliance races, particularly Ironforge dwarves. Pandaren are eccentric, however, and some feel more at home around the Horde.(WoW RPG) |----- valign="top" || Quilboar ||BC: Unconfirmed Future: Possible||WC3|| + The god of the quilboar, Agamaggan, battled the Burning Legion in ancient times. + Distinct hatred of the Horde, especially the Tauren and the Orcs. + Possible tie to Outland, as, like the Dwarves, the Quilboars may begin a massive expedition to uncover their orgins and find artifacts of their god's bygone struggle. + Are willing to aid other races if given an incentive, one such example being Mangletooth. - Hatred of the Alliance as well. - Following this link, the Quilboars from Razorfen Kraul use to have a shamanistic faith. Though these informations just concern one tribe, there are very few seen cases of abandoned traditional faiths. |----- valign="top" || Tigon ||BC: Debunked2 Future: Unconfirmed||Fan Fiction|| ''- Debunk by GamerGod.'' - Only Verifiable Reference to Tigon is Fan Fiction. '- No Obvious Relationship to Outland.' '- Tigon are a shapeshifted form of the Tiger Aspect Trolls of Zul'gurub.' '- Not an actual "race" in Warcraft.' |----- valign="top" || Tuskarr ||BC: Unconfirmed Future: Possible||WC3: TFT|| + They could fit well in a Northrend Expansion + Limited lore connections to Alliance. '- Unlikely to appear without Northrend.' ' - No known similar models in-game.' ' - No Obvious Relationship to Outland.' |----- valign="top" || Worgen (Night Cry) ||BC: Unconfirmed Future: Possible||WoW||thumb|According to sources held by The Forsaken, the Worgen come from another dimension, and exist only to terrorize and destroy. + The Kirin Tor Archmage, Alphus Wordwill, suggests a method of using "good-hearted" worgen to fight the Scourge and other evils for the Alliance: "This begs the question as to what can be done with them. Are we morally correct in eliminating them, as they are a danger to all mortals? I do not believe so; rather, I believe we should find a cure. If possible, this cure would not prevent the transformation, it would do more — it would preserve the afflicted individual’s mindset after the transformation. Such an effect would allow good-hearted worgen to take on fearsome physical abilities and use these against the Forsaken, the Scourge and other evil powers. Given proper funding and support, I believe that I could create such a cure." (Excerpt from Warcraft: Lands of Conflict) + Were formerly called from an outer dimension to destroy the Scourge before they decided to attack the Dalaran wizards. A tribe of them might redeem (see Shadowfang Keep). '- The Worgen Rumor is believed to be from a fan fiction, but fan fiction has been written for many races and no source is as of yet known. This does not exclude it as a possibility. Blizzard states they have not provided any information or made any announcements concerning the new Alliance race to anybody.'. '- No Obvious Relationship to Outland.' '- Inherently evil.' '- "For wherever the Worgen tread, they bring terror and bloodshed with them."-Ur' |} Notes * At Blizzcon, creative director, Chris Metzen had this to say regarding the new race: "When we finally reveal alliance race, it's gonna blow your mind. At first, you are gonna say 'whaa?', but then 'wow...'. It's gonna be awesome." * "...all of the WOW races will have strong motivating incentives to go to Outland", CGW, Dec 2005 * † Children of Cenarius, or Cenarians are: Keepers of the Grove (male), Dryad (female). * 1 Gaming Steve is a dubious source, but could be considered an industry insider. * 2 According to GamerGod, Caydiem said: "Do you really think we'd introduce a race of jungle cat-people that has absolutely no relation to Outland whatsoever? ;)" (This might imply the race has something to do with Outland.) = Vote! = Let's hear what you think! http://www.kwiz.biz/showpoll.php?pollid=22060 = Credits = Thanks especially to Xmuskrat who put a ton of work into this page. Credit also goes to the many other WoWWiki users who contributed to and bashed heads over this page. Thanks also to Blizzard who generated the desire for this page by their cryptic inscrutability. __NOEDITSECTION__ Category:Rumors Category:Burning Crusade